New Case Study: a woman with severely aggresive external Endometriosis

A newly published study about a 35-year-old woman with a case of crazy-insane-aggressive Endometriosis hit my inbox. I was going to fit it into a previously-written blog about hysterectomies and Endo or extra-pelvic Endo…but it was so fascinating that I decided to create today’s blog entry.

Initially, this young woman had abdominal surgery to remove her right ovary because of a ruptured ovarian cyst. She subsequently had three additional surgeries to excise Endometriomas (chocolate cysts) and adenomyosis via a total hysterectomy which also took both of her fallopian tubes and remaining ovary.

After her 2007 surgery, her pain levels were still severe and present. Her physicians started her on daily doses of 2.5mg Letrozole, even though she was already on Danazol every day. It provided her with some relief and in 2012 she asked that her Letrozole dose be increased to 7.5mg. Her physicians allowed it, but with it came increased side effects of weight gain, headaches, extremity pain, dizziness, insomnia, and memory impairment. She asked that they decreased the dosage to 5mg.

With the decrease to 5mg, her Endometriosis relapsed and was found present in her abdominal wall, vulva, and labia majora. They increased her Letrozole dosage back up to 7.5mg and surgery was performed (and continued to be repeated in the future). The only pain relief she ever received was after surgeries to remove the Endo lesions and while she maintained an increased dose of Letrozole.

This poor woman had a total of 175 (yep; you read that right) surgical procedures from 1998 to 2013 to treat her aggressive Endometriosis. Her only pain relief was on a triple-the-usual dosage amount of Letrozole which she then had the severe side effects from the medication to deal with.

I cannot even imagine!!! Although I do wish the study outlined further details: what types of procedures, ablation or excision, diet, exercise, lifestyle, family history, etc. A lot of different factors may affect pain and symptoms (although I’m not belittling her experience at all) – I would just really like to know…

If you’d like to read the entire study (and see the photographs), please click on the link below.

Resources:

~ Again, I am a layman. I do not hold any college degrees, nor mastery of knowledge. Please take what I say with a grain of salt. If curious, do your own research 😉 Validate my writings. Or challenge them. And ALWAYS feel free to consult with your physician. Always. Yours ~ Lisa